His Crode Clutches

Sneaking in!

|| Author POV ||

Rosa reached her room. Lilia had treated her wound but the pain in her chest didn’t subside. She stood in front of the mirror and stared at the dried mud on her face.

She mentally palmed her face, how embarrassing. How humiliating!

But the memory of his eyes on her and his touch… it all came rushing back. The way his fingers had brushed her skin like she was something his.

He was her professor. Right?

He’d taken responsibility for her just because she had nowhere to go… that’s all it was.

And yet…

He didn’t act like any professor should.

That night…

That night he held her so close it felt like her heart would break.

As if they weren’t professor and student. As if they were something more.

He acted like he was jealous. She remembered the heat in his eyes. The way his jaw clenched.

Rosa shook off her thoughts and looked into the mirror. She gasped the moment her eyes caught her reflection, her cheeks were flushed red. She needed to wash her face, she told herself.

But she didn’t want to.

His touch still felt alive on her skin. She didn’t want to rinse it away!

Gulping at her own silly thoughts, she turned away and hurried to the soft, fluffy mattress..She threw her small body onto it, sinking into the cushions like a feather.

And then, she giggled against the bedsheet.

Soft giggles filled the room like a secret spilling out of her chest. She felt joy. A strange happiness she couldn’t explain.

..............

Later, Rosa wandered aimlessly in the garden.

“Should I just bother him by asking for it?” she wondered to herself.

Rosa wanted to plant flowers, she didn’t even know why, only that the urge wouldn’t leave her.

Maybe, when she finally leaves this mansion, those flowers will stay behind. A quiet reminder that she had once been here?

To him?

But then she paused, chewing on her bottom lip.

It’s his garden.

He didn’t ask her to be here. He didn’t ask her to change anything. Maybe she was getting ahead of herself thinking she’d be here long enough to matter.

Maybe she should stop bothering him.

But still… the empty corner of the garden looked so dull like it was missing something. Flowers would make it come alive.

Rosa had nothing else to offer… except beauty.

And if she couldn’t belong here, maybe the flowers could?

Without realizing it, Rosa’s steps carried her through the mansion’s stairs until she stood before his door.

Her heart thudded in her chest.

Why is she here?

Why can’t the fear ever leave her when it came to him?

Raising a trembling fist, she knocked softly. Then again, a little louder. Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve, eyes locked on the door as if silently begging it to open and not to.

The handle turned open revealing Killian. His cold gaze landed on her.

He didn’t look pleased. Rosa’s heart stopped beating for a moment. It felt like she disturbed him?

“What is it?”

His voice was flat like ice slipping under her skin. Rosa opened her mouth but the words tangled in her throat.

Why does he affect her this much?

Why does his presence feel like gravity pulling everything out of her?

“I-I… may I ask you f-for something?” she finally managed with a scared expression. Killian gave a single nod.

Why does the air feel so heavy around him?

“The garden…” she began, seeing his reaction which didn’t change at all but instead, he raised an eyebrow.

“There… can.. can I—”

She mentally slapped her heart for pounding so fast.

“Can I plant…some flo-flowers in the garden?” she finally managed to ask. Her lashes fluttered as she searched his face for a reaction.

“I-I won’t take a b-big space.” she added quietly, her hands clasped nervously in front of her. “I-I just thought… it might look good.” Her voice grew smaller with each word.

She swallowed hard. Her eyes lowered as if preparing herself for rejection. For the coldness she was so used to from him.

“I can hire a gardener for that. You can’t do it.” he said finally.

Rosa looked down, nervously biting her lip. “I-i can.” she whispered.

There was a pause before she heard him chuckle darkly. “The garden’s not a toy for little girls.”

“I-i’m not a little girl. I can do it.” she replied softly.

“Fine.”

Her eyes brightened and she looked up at him in quiet awe, unable to quite smile.

“Th-thank you, Professor.” she bowed her head.

Then she turned happily and hurried away. Killian remained by the doorway with a hard face. The way she called him ‘Professor’ twisted something inside him. He didn’t want to allow something that could end up hurting her just like this morning but she looked so eager, so innocent in her hope.

|| The next afternoon ||

Rosa stepped into the garden, holding a few small tools in her hands. Lilia watched the silly girl with an amused smile.

Reaching a sunlit corner of the garden, Rosa crouched down and pressed her fingers into the soft earth. She and Lilia shared quiet giggles while they dug into the soil with small shovels, carefully planting flower seeds one by one.

When they were finished, they both looked down at the boxy patch they had created.

“You have to take care of the flowers very well.” Lilia said.

Rosa glanced down at her clothes which was stained with streaks of mud, and gave a soft smile. “Yes.” she nodded.

|| A few days later ||

Rosa stepped toward the river. The place she always returned to whenever the weight in her chest felt too heavy and her emotions drowned her more than she could carry.

The familiar bench waited near the edge. Night lights flickered above the bridge and their shimmering reflection flowed across the dark water like broken stars.

She wondered if that cat was still here?

Rosa sat down slowly. Her fingers rested in her lap and the cold wind brushed against her cheeks, making her already pale face even more lifeless.

She felt like a burden tonight. A misplaced piece in a world that kept spinning without her.

Her thoughts stuck on the image she’d seen at academy today.

Killian was standing with the female teacher in the academy. Miss Ava.

They were speaking. It wasn’t much. His face was still cold and distant like always but just the sight of them together was enough to twist something in Rosa’s chest.

Killian belonged to a world she could never reach.

And she... she was just a fragile girl clinging to borrowed spaces.

She blinked rapidly, trying to push the image away. But it kept returning, her heart stung with doubt, her mind whispering cruel things.

He had scolded her last night just for getting one equation wrong. His voice still echoed in her ears.

There were so many questions swirling in her head. Questions she couldn’t ask.

His presence always felt like a heavy shadow hovering over her. Yet, at times, there was something else too.

His aura wasn’t just dark. It was secretive.

Every time he answered a phone call near her, he would switch into a language she couldn’t understand. French, maybe?

Why was he so mysterious?

Rosa wiped her tear-stained cheeks, unaware of when they’d even started falling. The cold wind brushed against her skin, but it couldn’t numb the ache in her chest.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t erase the image of the way Miss Ava stood beside him like a proud woman. Like she belonged beside a man like him, unlike Rosa. She is fragile. Nervous and always fumbling.

It shouldn’t bother her. But it did.

Every night, her mind would drift to the past. To her parents. To what life could’ve been if they were alive. She whimpered into her pillow quietly like a habit. No one heard. No one was supposed to.

She would cry over her miserable life.

Now, sitting by the riverside with nothing but her thoughts, Rosa remembered again, she needed her phone.

---

Rosa stood in front of the house, her home. Maybe not anymore.

A tight knot formed in her chest, memories crashing over her. She pressed her lips together, her gaze drifted to the side path that led to the garden. Somehow, she found the courage to return.

With a quiet sigh, Rosa made her way to the backyard of the big house. Her eyes lifted to the second floor, her own room. The window was still open.

Had anyone even come back inside her room? Maybe no. That was why the window was still open.

Why does it feel like a nightmare? As if they were never her family? As if she didn’t mean anything to them?

Her gaze landed on the ladder resting in the corner. She knew it would be here. Without a sound, Rosa moved it closer and carefully leaned it against her window.

Her hands were trembling. What if she gets caught?

She’s also aware of the time being. Her shift ended at 8 and she’s been wandering here. It’s late to return to his mansion. Killian wouldn’t notice it, right?

Shaking off her thoughts, she carefully climbed the ladder. Sneaking into her own house... felt illegal.

Rosa jumped into her room through the window, unaware of the consequences.